


ugh, mouth breathers

by wickedwheeler



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Annoyed Mike, Arcade, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Protective El, Sorry mike, el's the air hockey champ, for once there's no singing sorry, go away troy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 11:55:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwheeler/pseuds/wickedwheeler
Summary: mike & el at the arcadewhere they have a little run in with everyone's least fav boy in hawkins





	ugh, mouth breathers

One of Mike's favorite things to do was go to the arcade. How could he not love it? A wide selection of the finest video games created was practically nerd heaven.

He soon found though, that the arcade was even better when El was there with him.

Ever since he first took her there, she was fascinated by it and was always begging to go back. And Mike, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, took her every single time she asked, especially once he had gotten his license.

After obtaining that key to their newfound freedom, he was able to take her wherever she wanted to go, which meant that the two practically lived at the Palace Arcade.   
  
  


Mike and El had spent most of this beautiful Saturday morning there, bouncing back and forth between all the different games.

They were currently engaged in a rather intense game of air hockey, which just so happened to be one of El's favorites. 

The two hit the puck back and forth, until El knocked it in, making the score 5-6.

"Yes!!" She happily cheered, victoriously throwing her hands up in the air. "Another one!"

"Hey, don't get too excited, I'm still winning!" He smugly reminded her, as he retrieved the puck from the slot on the end of the table and hit it back to her.

"Yeah, unless I... score again!" She shouted while another one slid right by the paddle in his hand. "Ha! Look at that, now we're tied!"

He playfully narrowed his eyes at her, once again placing the puck back on the table and returning it to his competitive girlfriend.

Mike could be a bit of a sore loser sometimes, so he didn't particularly enjoy the fact that he had already lost the past four games.

"It's okay, I still love you." She assured him, her voice sounding as sweet as ever. "No matter how bad of an air hockey player you are."

He looked up to find her smiling innocently, before she took advantage of the moment and knocked another one in, winning the game.

"Yes!! That makes five wins for me, zero for you!" She shamelessly bragged, shooting him a fake pout that was so cute he couldn't possibly be upset over his continuous losses. He would lose to her any day if it made her happy.

"Okay okay, let's go again." He eagerly suggested, while quickly digging his hand around in his pocket. "Shit, I'm out of quarters. You got any left?"

El set her paddle down on the table, before shoving her hand down in the pocket of her denim skirt.

"I'm out, too." She disappointedly sighed.

"Oh, I have some in the car!" He remembered, knowing that there was a cupholder full of change that would surely be enough to get them through the rest of the day. "Okay, you stay here so nobody steals the table. I'll be right back."

"Mike!" She rushed to call out, before he got too far away from her.

He spun back around immediately, a slight look of concern on his face. "Yeah?"

El grinned softly, slightly raising her brows as she waited for him to realize what she wanted. Like always, he quickly understood and happily came over to her.

She leaned up on her tip toes, meeting him halfway as he bent down and softly pressed his lips to hers.

"Thank you." She beamed, swiftly stealing one more kiss before he went off to retrieve their change.   
  
  


Mike made his way out to the parking lot, heading straight for his car. It was only parked a few spots down, so it didn't take him long to reach it.

He slung the passenger side door open, going straight for the chunk of change. He scooped up all the quarters he could find, shoving each handful in his pocket.

He was right, there was enough change in there to keep them playing all day long if that's what El wanted. 

"Wheeler!" Mike heard a familiar irritating voice call out from behind him. "Haven't seen your scrawny ass in awhile!"

He couldn't help but groan, already dreading what was to come when he turned around.

Mike slammed the car door shut, then moved to face the boy. "What do you want Troy?"

"What? I've been gone for awhile, can't say hi to a dear friend now that I'm back?" He sneered, while sporting an unsettling grin on his face, one Mike knew all too well.

Troy looked as if he were going to go on, probably to throw out more insults, but something behind Mike seemed to be more important at the moment.

"Woah! And just who might you be?" He hollered, as his face lit up while still looking off behind Mike.

Mike turned around, finding a very unhappy El walking toward them.

"I'm his girlfriend." She defensively stated, as she approached the two of them, instantly wrapping her arms around Mike's waist.

"Get out. Frogface has a girlfriend?" Troy snorted through his disbelief. "And she's pretty?"

Mike irritably rolled his eyes at Troy's comments, while El could only glare at the boy.

"This is a joke right? There's no way someone like you would be with someone like him."

The glare on her face only got more intense, while she grew angrier on the inside. She didn't enjoy hearing Mike being talked about like that.

"Prove it." Troy added, eyeing them both in a way that was surely meant to test them.

"Prove what??" Mike cluelessly questioned, not exactly understanding what he was asking.

"Prove to me that you two are actually dating."

Mike rolled his eyes once more, not believing that he was being this ridiculous. Actually, this was Troy, so it's very believable. "That's so stupid, I mean how are we even suppos-"

He didn't get to finish asking his question, because El had cut him off by smashing her lips onto his.

_Guess that's how we prove it._

Mike knew it was purely for the purpose of proving Troy wrong, but he couldn't help himself. He kissed her back, as thoroughly as he would have if there weren't another person watching them.

El could feel Mike's hands move to rest at her sides, instinctively pulling her body closer.

They probably kissed longer than necessary, because Troy surely believed them by the first fifteen seconds, but who cares?

Both finally pulled away from the exchange, smiling giddily at one another. Their kisses seemed to always have a significant effect on them, no matter what the situation was.

They turned their attention back to Troy, finding him already nearing Mike's side. Troy roughly placed a hand on his arm, slightly tightening his grip. 

"Wow, I'm impressed, I really am." Troy admitted, before leaning even closer, so that El couldn't hear what he said next. "You know, I'd be willing to lay off you and your friends, if you let me have a go at her."

"I'm sorry, what did you just say to me?" Mike snapped, feeling the sudden rush of anger throughout his body.

"Oh come on, just one night, then I'll give her back. That is, if she even wants to come back."

No matter how quiet Troy thought he was being though, it was quiet enough. El had heard every word and now, she had heard all she wanted to hear.

The stuff he was saying was disgusting and she could tell it was upsetting Mike. His face was growing redder by the second and she really didn't want him to do something that would lead to him getting hurt. 

"I really think you should take your hand off of him, unless you want me to break your arm again." She threatened through her gritted teeth, while moving closer to him. 

Troy's face suddenly grew paler, as he realized who she was. His reaction instantly brought a satisfied grin to El's face.

"No way." He breathed out, pulling his hand away from Mike, as he stumbled back a bit.

El nodded sternly, still grinning ever so smugly at him.

"But, you looked like a freak! Now you're..."

"Pretty?" She recalled his previous compliment toward her, though the word didn't sound right at all coming from his mouth. "Doesn't matter what I look like. I still don't like you or the way you treat Mike."

"Now, go." El demanded, just as she had years ago when she saved Mike from this same awful boy. "And if I ever see you lay a hand on him or any of my friends again, I'll do much worse than break your arm."

Troy didn't say another word, knowing that she had meant what she said. He took one last wide-eyed look at her, then took off running down the sidewalk.

"Ugh, mouth breathers." El groaned, before smiling proudly up at Mike.

"God, I hate him." Mike said, while staring off at where Troy had disappeared, until his attention went back to the girl currently snuggling up to his arm. "Thanks for that, by the way." 

"For what?"

"Doing what you do best, saving me." He shrugged, looking down at her lovingly.

"You don't have to thank me for that... You could've taken him, though."

"Yeah, probably not, but I appreciate your confidence in me." He laughed, with a gentle shake of the head. "But did you see his face when he realized who you were?"

"He looked like he had seen a ghost!" She said through her giggling, the image in her head of his stunned faced even more satisfying than it was moments ago.

Mike laughed right along with her, then placed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Come on, let's go back in, so I can kick your cute butt in air hockey."

"Oh, we'll see about that." She teased while taking his hand in hers.

The two happily ran back into the arcade, where El continued to remain the air hockey champ.

Better luck next time, Mike...


End file.
